I like the seven grain porridge in this bread, in fact I think I’ll add some black sesame seeds next time as well. It met my expectations as a soft, fluffy and flavourful 100% whole wheat bread.
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This is so delicious. Especially toasted with a bit of butter.
Someone mentioned rolls or hamburger buns and I’d love to try this. How long would you proof the shaped buns?
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Yes you can use this same recipe and make buns or rolls if you like. I’ve also used it for sweet rolls like my recently posted blueberry lemon rolls with minor changes.
For hamburger buns final proofing would be until the finger poke test is passed assuming you are warm proofing and not cold retarding when poking.
I could totally see a sweet bun. The depth of flavor is amazing. Great recipe. Thanks Benny.
I am so excited to try this recipe, but I’m having a problem with the initial step, making the levain. I have twice carefully measured the ingredients by weight. My starter was at peak. With the first attempt nothing is happening 13 hours later. A second attempt is showing no activity 3 hours in. I had to effectively knead the levain to incorporate the specified amount of flour. Any ideas?
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Let’s start with your starter. When you say at peak, had it fully risen with the dome starting to flatten?
If you do a feed of 1:1:1 and ferment at 80°F how long does it take to peak and start to flatten? What is the rise at this time? What flour is your starter usually fed?
What temperature are you fermenting at?
The stiff sweet levain is a challenging environment for the microbes, the high concentration of sugar stresses both the LAB and the yeast, so if your starter isn’t really vigorous, it is unlikely that the stiff sweet levain will be successful.
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Thank you for the quick response! The starter is obviously my problem. I have not been rigorous enough to have answers to all your questions. What I have identified as peak, fully risen with dome starting to flatten, was its condition when I mixed the levain. I have not timed a rise precisely and normally use ambient temperature. I feed with 50/50 organic AP and stone ground whole wheat. When I have addressed all your points, I will try again. I have my marching orders! Thank you, Benny, if I may be so informal.
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No problem Jane. Definitely if your starter isn’t optimal the stiff sweet levain will not work. I’ll await your next bake.
Benny
Thank you, Benny! With a number of starter refreshes, the 1:1:1 test under 3 hours, I made my first complete effort with your recipe and excellent guidance and my trusty Ank. I’m quite pleased! I note several problems I can solve next time around. I started later in the day than optimum. I checked the final proof at 4.5 hours and panicked to find the dough well over the rim of my new Pullman pan. Assuming your instruction to proof to 1cm from the rim meant below the rim, I rushed it into the oven without checking further. And finally, I think 350 degrees was too high for the new USA pan. The internal temp was 205-6 at 45minutes. Still, I’m not complaining! Thanks for your help!
And, Melissa, thanks to you too! I love your blogs and recipes. In this case, I used your flour and ratio choices.
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Beautiful shiny crust and tall loaf Jane. That is just gorgeous 
I hope you enjoy your lovely bread. I’m so glad it baked up so well. Yes the final proof to within 1 cm of the rim is below the rim typically but it obviously wasn’t an issue for you to go above the rim.
Benny
Gorgeous bake, Jane, well done! This bread has such a delightful taste and texture, I know you will enjoy it! –AG
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Hi, I’m so interested in trying this recipe. But my pullman bread pan is the large size I believe it’s 13x4, should I double the recipe? Or + ½ recipe to fill up the pan? Thank you in advance for your reply. I’m looking forward to make this recipe it looks so tasty 
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The amount of dough compared to the standard 9x4x4” is going to be related to the change in volume. The volume in cubic inches of the 9x4x4 is 144 cu in. The volume of your 13x4x4 is 208. 208 divided by 144 is 1.44. So your pullman pan is 44% larger than the one used in this recipe. Therefore multiply every ingredient weight by 1.44 and you’ll have the increased recipe for your pan.
Hope that helps.
Benny
Beautiful! How would I go about making rolls with this dough?
Hi Margie
I’ve used this and many other versions of this flexible dough for rolls. With about 900 g or so of dough I make 24 rolls in a13 x 9” pan. The amount of dough needed will depend on the size of rolls you want and the size of the pan.
Benny
1st loaf in a new oven. After 34 years of constant use, our oven died and we had to wait three weeks for a new one to be installed. I’ve eaten nothing but homemade or sourdough bread for over 70 years and went through withdrawals. I decided to try out your recipe for it’s maiden run and the oven and your recipe performed great. I used freshly ground Yecora Rojo flour as it’s high in protein and one of my favorites. Thanks for the recipe, photos, and video.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday, Benny,
Richard
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That looks marvelous Richard, well done with your oven’s maiden bake. I’m going through withdrawal from home baked sourdough bread as well. I’m currently on a trip, it started with 4 days in Barcelona, then boarded a ship for 26 days and we now have just over three days left before ending the 7 d transatlantic crossing in Fort Lauderdale where we’ll be for a week before finally getting home.
Benny
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Now that’s the kind of withdrawal I’d like!
Cheers
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Do you have advice/instructions/experience making Milk Bread by hand? no machine? Thanks!
Hi Constance. When I’m in Florida in the winter months I do not have a mixer so I have to hand develop all my doughs. It can take a lot of time to fully develop the dough but it is worth the time and effort. The challenge is adding the butter. You have a couple of options. You can add the butter melted at the start, but the butter slows the development of the gluten so expect to spend more time kneading. Alternatively, you can add the butter towards the end after the dough is well developed. This is messier but faster. Get that butter really soft to add later. I smear it onto the dough and fold the dough over, then start slap and folds. Once incorporated I’ll add more repeating until it is all incorporated. A final way I add butter to dough is to remove a portion of the flour to make a paste with the butter. For 50 g of butter anywhere from 25-50 g of flour can be used to make this paste. Then this paste can be added to the well developed dough and will incorporate much more quickly than butter on its own.
Benny